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It\u2019s become something of a clich\u00e9 to view entrepreneurs as mavericks, dreamers, and innovators, but there are some who perfectly embody the never-take-no-for-an-answer, blazing passion that\u2019s required to found a successful business. And Sheri Jacobson is a perfect example. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The founder of FT Future 100 company Harley Therapy, she\u2019s not only a passionate campaigner to de-stigmatize mental health and therapeutic support but a timely reminder that, above all else, it\u2019s people that drive successful businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having started off in investment banking, Jacobson turned her back on finance because she craved something different. She subsequently went on to embark on 10 years of psychotherapy training and a seven-year period as a volunteer counselor before setting up her first business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of research that shows us that earning money is not the be-all and end all,\u201d she explains. \u201cThere\u2019s a certain threshold beyond which you can have a comfortable life and having lots of extra gadgets and disposable income isn\u2019t going to contribute to your wellbeing as much as having a purpose and feeling really fulfilled in what we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re lucky enough to stumble across something you love and can turn it into a business, then you should stick with it \u2013 even if it\u2019s not an \u2018approved\u2019 career. My dad said, \u2018I don\u2019t understand why you want to do this. You\u2019re not going to earn a living from this and I don\u2019t see you being happy.\u2019 But you know what, I\u2019m loving it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Having subsequently conducted over 250,000 personal therapy sessions and her companies carrying out almost 10,000 sessions a month, it\u2019s fair to say she\u2019s not looked back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2006 she founded Harley Therapy in a world-renowned area of medical excellence in London. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was working with clients on a one-to-one basis and was driven to help more people,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI saw that there was a change in a person and light was often brought into their lives over prolonged work – it didn\u2019t happen overnight, it took many sessions. Their lives were truly transformed. Not everyone, though, and not all the time, but there was enough to say something magical was happening and I wanted to share it with more people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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There are two sides to Jacobson\u2019s business. Firstly, the very exclusive Harley Street clinic, which by her admission is expensive and \u201crestrictive in access\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then there is Harley Therapy Platform Ltd, which was launched in 2017 it aims to make therapy far more accessible and affordable. This is a virtual business and has the same mission as the clinic, which is to \u201chelp people through therapy and psychological knowledge with a view that everyone has the capacity to change if they\u2019re willing to work hard\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The platform now delivers around 8,000 sessions a month, while the bricks-and-mortar clinic has never done more than 2,000 therapy sessions a month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Self-funded all the way through, she was able to leverage the power of her Harley Therapy clinic brand to create a global business. \u201cI saw so many successful platform-based businesses and I thought there\u2019s got to be a way to translate this to what I\u2019m doing,\u201d she explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The journey hasn\u2019t been without pitfalls though. She acknowledges some growing pains, particularly around the fact that some therapists struggled to move on from the old methods. \u201cWe can\u2019t use paper diaries, we\u2019re driven by technology and some people don\u2019t like that, they don\u2019t value it and find it impersonal,\u201d she admits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Even over Zoom, it\u2019s hard not to be struck by Jacobson\u2019s irresistible energy and fervor, which begs the question of whether working in the wellbeing industry has helped her as an entrepreneur?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think it has,\u201d she smiles. \u201cIt\u2019s helped me take regular breaks, look after myself and encourage my colleagues to do the same. Working flexibly and with lots of attention to our hobbies makes for a better working environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeing in this field, in general, has helped us with longevity and being able to run a business. It\u2019s been 15-years and I\u2019ve still got so much energy and enthusiasm for it. I haven\u2019t come close to burnout because of the well-being element that I\u2019ve learned from working with clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI feel like we\u2019re just getting started!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Known as the \u2018Mary Berry of therapy\u2019 for her dedication to the field of therapy,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":1326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klickerdev.com\/enshored\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1325"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klickerdev.com\/enshored\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klickerdev.com\/enshored\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klickerdev.com\/enshored\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klickerdev.com\/enshored\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klickerdev.com\/enshored\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klickerdev.com\/enshored\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klickerdev.com\/enshored\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klickerdev.com\/enshored\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klickerdev.com\/enshored\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}